A noose was reportedly left on the doorknob of Equality California’s Orange County field office this week, and EQCA says police refused to file a criminal complaint.

According to EQCA, an officer who came to the Santa Ana office referred to the noose by saying, “What is it, a string on a door?” They claim he also said, “Sometimes you just have to live with being a victim.”

A Santa Ana police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment today (Friday, October 29).

Geoff Kors said in an EQCA statement, “This is an outrageous, despicable attempt to intimidate the [LGBT] community just a few days before the election, but we will not be silenced. We will strengthen our fight to elect pro-equality candidates who champion full equality for our entire community and who shun anti-LGBT initiatives that foster discrimination and prejudice.”

EQCA has been campaigning for pro-LGBT candidates including Democrat Jerry Brown, who’s currently the state attorney general and is running for governor, and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, the Democrat running for attorney general.

Kors called the officer’s alleged conduct “dismissive and deeply offensive,” and he stated it “sends the message that LGBT community members cannot rely on the police for protection against the kind of hatred and prejudice that can lead to violence.”

The statewide LGBT advocacy group is calling on Orange County residents to demand Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters investigate “the atrocious hate crime” and discipline the officer in question. EQCA also plans to file a complaint with police.